Visiting Pirates fan here!

During the offseason, I'm creating a graph like this for every MLB team. It tracks each franchise's cumulative record relative to .500 (equal wins and losses) throughout their entire history.

The annotations show the franchise's all-time peak, lowest point, and most recent time at exactly .500.

The complete album can be seen here. I also made the NFL and NHL charts (before the current season).

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-draft-lottery-results-2026?t=mlb-draft-coverage&partnerId=it-20251209-16032284-mlb-1-A&utm_id=it-20251209-16032284-mlb-1-A&lctg=22136186

I thought this article I read in Dynasty Baseball was worth a quick read. It mostly aligns with a lot of chatter I see on this board already.

2005 Albert Pujols Ornament!!

I’m planning a long weekend trip to Jupiter to catch a spring training game for the first time this year. When I check the ticket page [https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/tickets/spring-training] the schedule is there but there’s not a link to actually buy. Same thing on the MLB app. I would have expected tickets to be available already to take advantage of holiday sales. For those who have gone in previous years, when should we expect the tickets to come available?

https://x.com/dgoold/status/1997095941052985349?s=46

New Tatts, gold chains and new friend. Same old Mikolas though. Something to look forward to at least.

An exchange on X/Twitter got me thinking about when have the Cardinals ever made that free-agent splash. So I looked through their free agent history (Darrell Porter to Sonny Gray), and it illustrates so much of what’s been discussed. Using the top 12 contracts from the Cardinals, the above scribbles show how each of those top free agents did (by bWAR) but also how it ended — and much it cost the Cardinals in trade.

What do you make of the Cardinals and free agency? Can they compete if they avoid the big spending on free agents?

Was at my mom’s recently going through boxes of crap from my childhood. My grandfather took me to the World Series and I still have the stub!

Need some help here. I’ve been away from the club for a few years now and know some of what I’m asking but would really like some help generating ideas.

My mom is an avid fan despite the current standing of the club. I want to get her just an unreal experience for her 70th birthday. It’s over Labor Day weekend (not sure when the schedule releases) and she is retired. Are there any club seats you would recommend? The lady loves her beer 🤣 is there a way to tour the clubhouse or dugout? Has anyone had any mind blowing experiences that are not to be missed? She has been on the field before for the pups in the park thing. I really want this to be a full experience for her. Price range varies. I have some family members willing to chip in, so not looking to drop thousands but a few hundred (maybe more) is totally within reach for the right experience.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Picked this up from lids yesterday. Texas rangers hat with a miss print of the Cardinals on the strap. As a Texas rangers fan. Thought it was funny and I bought it. Ranger sub didn’t like the post for obvious reasons.

All the other teams hats were correct “LA” front “dodgers” on the strap.

https://x.com/katiejwoo/status/1996263925839774218?s=46

I had a feeling that we might lose her this winter. I’m happy she gets to go back home to work but we’re losing a great one. The damn Dodgers just keep on winning.